Tips and Picnics
by Micetta
Summary: Dallas asks Ally on a date but he doesn't know what to say or what to do with her. So, he turns to Austin for help. Will he help Dallas out? And will he eventually tell Ally how he feels about her? One-shot.


**Hi A&A fans! :D**

**This is my first Austin&Ally fanfiction. I love this pairing, they should be a couple on the show... they're too cute together!  
**

**Anyways... Please, be kind! And sorry any for grammatical mistakes you may find! xD  
**

**I really hope you'll like this story.  
**

**Bye,  
**

**Manu  
**

**(p.s. I don't own Austin&Ally!)**

* * *

"Ladies and gentlemen, I'm Austin Moon, the host of this brand new show, _What's in the tuba?_" Austin shouted to an imaginary public, holding a drumstick as a microphone.

"Our contestant tonight is… Dez!" He announced his best friend, bending down a little on his legs and throwing his arms up in the air. They were in the Sonic Boom, when the store was still open, and customers were looking at them strangely.

"So, Dez, what's in the tuba?"

Dez rubbed his chin, lost in his deep thoughts; he looked very concentrated. "Your phone!"

Austin sighed in fake-displeasure and gave him a sad look. "I'm sorry, wrong answer. The object in the tuba is," he slipped his hand into the instrument, standing on his tiptoes helping himself reaching its inner, "-my phone."

Dez smirked triumphantly.

Austin stared at his phone, then at his red-head best friend, "why is my phone into the tuba?"

"My bad. It accidentally slipped out of my hand when I took out the tuna sandwich," he replied, holding the mentioned sandwich.

"Dez! The tuna sandwich was supposed to be the object you should've guessed," the blond stamped his foot, whining like a toddler.

"Ooooh."

"Guys! You're weirding my customers out," Ally approached them, frustrated and pissed that some people were abandoning the store, which meant losing customers.

"Stop bothering, Als! Wanna play _What's in the tuba_ too?" Austin attempted at persuading her and let his arm sliding casually over her shoulders.

"No, because _nothing_ should be into the tuba! And by the way," she snatched the sandwich out of Dez's hands, "food's not allowed in the store."

During her little outburst, Austin couldn't help but notice a brown-haired boy who entered the store; for no reason, his brows knitted together, but then his expression softened. "Err… Ally, Dallas is here."

"What!" In a quick motion, Ally turned back her head enough to spot her crush walking up to the counter. Immediately she felt a huge desire to put a strand of her hair in her mouth and chew on it. She totally didn't expect him to come, especially since he'd been working at the library for a while now; she wasn't prepared to face him and have with him a proper conversation. Plus, he seemed to have already noticed her, in fact he waved at her, merely smiling. In that exact moment, she felt doomed.

"Hey, Dallas," she waved back at him, trying to seem cool. "Guys, _now_ go away!"

The two groaned and actually wandered away from Ally, but hid behind the piano to listen to the awkward conversation that would've come next. _This_ was the real show.

"Dallas, what brings you here?" Ally began, overwhelmed by nervousness, that was clearly showing in her high-pitched voice.

"Well…" he trailed off, shifting his gaze from the eager Ally to a random spot in the store, "I was wondering if you'd like to have a picnic with me tomorrow, or something. But just if you want… no pressure!" In a contest of awkwardness, both of them would've been the finalists.

The brunette gaped at him, shocked. "Of course I want. I'd love to," she answered, a smile spreading across her shining lips.

"Good, so… see you tomorrow?"

Ally giggled shyly, earning an eye rolling from Austin who was still behind the piano, "I guess."

After that, Dallas bowed his head a bit, in sign of dismiss, and crossed the doorway, leaving a dumbfounded - but quite happy - Ally behind him. She realized a couples of minutes later that first, she had been invited by her crush on a date and second, that her friends were spying on her. "You guys can come out of here," she called out, not even bothering to turn around.

Dez stood up and stretched his arms, "Thanks, Ally. I thought I would've got a back strain."

Austin, instead, didn't utter a word, in a attempt of figuring out a possible joke about what had just happened. Oddly, he came up with nothing.

"So now you know I've got a date with Dallas tomorrow."

"Yeah," Austin grinned and gave her a pat on the shoulder, "I'm happy for you."

"I am too, but I don't know what to wear. Please, take care of the store for me, just for a while. I'll be back as soon as I find the perfect clothes for tomorrow, pleaseee!" She gave them, but mostly Austin, the puppy eyes. The blond boy sighed, "Fine."

"Thanks, Austin, you're the best!" To show her gratitude she threw her arms around his neck and held him tight, before pulling away and rushing out of the door. She was gone and he still felt the warmth of her petite body throughout his, while his arms remained mid-air, in an embrace gesture; he let them drop short after, once he recomposed himself.

Lucky for them, since Ally had left almost nobody had come to the store, so they just laid on the couches lazily and occasionally Austin would sold a instrument or gave people advices on how to learn playing them. Basically, not a tiring day. Until, _he_ came.

For the second time that day, Dallas showed up in the store - or, precisely, out of the store - and as he made eye contact with Austin, he motioned him to come out. A little taken aback, the boy walked up to him and, crossing his arms over his chest, waited for him to start talking.

"Austin, I need a favor. You know I asked Ally to go on a date," He said, sure that he knew. Austin was her best friend after all and, besides, he noticed that he and Dez were a few meters away listening to them when he had that chat with Ally.

"Mmh," Austin mumbled, not even able to say a 'yes'; he was somewhat angry, and yet he couldn't understand why. It's not like he cared, not even a bit.

"I really want to impress her and make sure that the date won't be a perfect fiasco. You're her best friend and you probably know her better then she herself. Could you please help me?"

Austin widened his brown eyes, dropping his arms to his sides. No, he definitely didn't see that coming. Now, he was torn between choosing to make her best friend's date perfect or opting for his own happiness, which meant not helping Dallas and let the date end in a disaster so she wouldn't have seen him again. The latter was tempting, but not because he was jealous! But, for some reason, he wanted Ally all for himself and didn't want to share her with a random guy. Just that.

He pondered a little while, but then, moved by Dallas' rueful eyes, he took the best - but painful - decision. "I will help you."

"Thanks! Now, please, teach me how to be more confident, like you. I get all nervous when I'm around her and I just don't know what to say. I've already had so much trouble asking her on a date and now, I don't know either how to act tomorrow with her or what to do." Touching.

"First you should talk with her about something she likes."

"What does she like?"

"Pickles," Austin replied simply, nodding.

"That's all?"

"Pretty much."

Dallas shot him a quizzical look. That was… weird.

"Or," Austin added, wagging his finger as he came up with another one of Ally's likes, "you can talk about music. Do you play any kind of instrument?"

The brown-haired guy rubbed the back of his neck, embarrassed. "No."

Austin sighed; he was sighing a lot more than usual. "Ok, let's make a test. Flip your hair," he instructed.

"Oh, that's easy." Dallas cheered up and closed his eyes for two seconds, to concentrate himself before accomplishing that oh-so-hard operation.

He let out a breath.

Austin couldn't take it anymore. _Pathetic_, he thought.

Eventually, Dallas flipped his air, staring at the wall with a charm smile. Austin was sure that even the wall was laughing at him. Then, Dallas turned around searching Austin eyes for approval.

"What does she see in you?"

The boy gazed at Austin, wounded. Nobody had ever criticized the way he flips his hair! He made a perfect flip!

"Anyways, for the first thing, since you can't play any kind of instrument," Austin inserted a muffled snicker, "you can sing her a song. For the second thing, namely the hair flip, I'm sorry: you're hopeless." Man, he was _harsh_.

"Ok, but what kind of song I'm supposed to sing? I can't write songs!"

"Predictable."

"Hey, you don't know how to write songs either; that's why Ally does it for you."

"Touché."

Dallas was the one snickering now.

"However. Sing to her one of my songs, which are _her _songs. She would love to hear you singing it."

Actually, the reason was just one: once Dallas would've sung the song, Ally would've made a comparison between the two boys and, surely, Austin would've been the winner, beating the librarian at his favorite game: singing. Oh, that was the best plan Austin could've ever come up with.

"It's alright. I can do it." Right.

"And after that I'll give you a bug and suggest you some cute stuff to tell Ally."

"Thank, Austin. You're the best!"

Dallas gave him a friendly pat on his shoulder, looking almost touched.

"Yeah. I've been told it before."

Afterwards, the young singer spent almost an hour helping Dallas with his self-confidence and giving him every sort of tips.

* * *

"Guess who got a job at the Sushi Station!" Trish burst in the Sonic Boom, wearing a flower-patterned white kimono and wooden shoes.

Austin and Dez stared at her with disbelief. "Sushi Station? Really? I thought they were only hiring Japanese staff," Austin countered.

"That's why I told them my name's Ayumi," Trish answered, matter-of-factly. Austin shook his head, chuckling, and decided not to question further.

"Aren't those shoes a little uncomfortable?" Dez pointed out.

"Said the guy who wears clown shoes." At this statement Dez just nodded: his clown shoes weren't that comfy either.

"Anyways, where's Ally?"

"She's-" Austin started, but was cut off from the person concerned. "Here." Ally walked in the store , holding two outfits, and questioned his friend, "Which one should I wear for the date with Dallas?"

She held the first one over her tiny figure, than the other one: according to Austin, she looked cute with both.

"Chose the one on the right," Trish said, fixing the red bend of her kimono.

"Perfect, thank you. Oh, and thank you guys for taking care of the store for me. It's time of closing now, you can go home."

"Anything for you, Ally. Anyways, see you tomorrow," Austin greeted her, heading to the door with Dez and Trish, but stopped once he reached the doorway, "oh, and, good luck with the date."

And with a wink, he left. She smiled.

* * *

For the so-long-awaited date, Dallas selected carefully the perfect place in the park, that was private and intimate, without people and little kids irking them. They were basically alone, if it weren't for the blond hidden behind a bush; it's not what you're thinking, he wasn't there to spy on them, but to supervise the date and suggest Dallas what to say to Ally.

The lovely couple sat down on the soft checkered white and red tablecloth. They started talking about the weather (yes, pretty lame) and trivial stuff, but eventually this conversation made them both feel relaxed and much more confident.

"Ally, I've got a surprise for you."

The girl blushed, grinning, "And what is that?"

Dallas put his hand into the basket, pulled out a glass container and showed it to her. "Ta-da!"

Her eyes lit up suddenly. "PICKLES!"

Dallas smiled down to her and stood up, trying his best to sound casual. "I've got another surprise."

Austin assumed that for Dallas had come the time to sing the song. _Wow, he learned fast._

"Since I know you're into music, I wanted to sing you a song you wrote for Austin, Not a Love Song." Austin couldn't believe it, he was dissolving into laughter even before Dallas started singing. _Why did he decide to sing a song that is not a love song?_

After the first lyrics, Austin was laughing even harder than before; his voice was terrible and his dance moves… even worse. Though, the scene was amusing.

Ally seemed not to appreciate that show either: she was nervously touching her hair, hoping that no one would've heard him singing. She smiled up at him politely.

Finally, after two agonizing minutes, the song ended and Dallas sat down next to Ally again, waiting for a response.

"It was… _great_, Dallas," she said, clearly unconvinced.

At this point, Austin decided to intervene to save the date and what had remained of Dallas' dignity.

He took the bug in his hand and speak into it, "Dallas, can you hear me?"

Peeking out of the bush, he saw Dallas doing their secret signal - which consisted in scratching his head - and gave him the thumbs-up in return.

Austin took a deep breath in and gazed at Ally, from a distance. He found himself mesmerized. Her hair was shimmering under the sunlight, her face was brighter than ever and her lips were curved in a slight smile. "Now tell her she is beautiful."

Dallas took her hands in his and did what he was instructed. "You're beautiful."

Her brown eyes were now glowing joyfully.

"Tell her you love her wonderful brown eyes."

"And I love your wonderful brown eyes." She tossed her hair back, blushing.

"Now, tell her she's the coolest girl you know."

"You're the coolest girl I know."

Ally dropped her hand a rested it on the tablecloth. "Austin," she whispered. He was the one who she heard those words from.

"What?" her date asked, tilting his head questioningly. Luckily, he didn't seem to have made out her words.

"Nothing. Just, thanks. It's so sweet of you."

Dallas looked over the bush, seeking for Austin to mouth him a 'thanks' or give him the thumbs-up.

But nobody was there.

Austin had already left.

* * *

"Did he really sing your song to her?" Dez's expression was priceless: it was a mix of horror and incredulousness.

Austin laughed, shaking his head, "Yeah. He was awful! The worst performance ever! She didn't know what to say."

"I wish I was there. It would've been fun to tape."

"And then put it on Youtube. I could already see the title _'Goofy boy trying to imitate Austin Moon unsuccessfully '_."

Dez giggled at his friend's joke and took another bite of his appetizing ham sandwich.

Strolling around the mall, Trish finally caught sight of her two friends sitting on a table near the fountain. "Austin! Here you are!" She shouted, threatening. Austin sunk in his chair. He didn't like it when Trish used that tone, that was no good.

"Hey, Trish! Don't you work at the Sushi Station anymore?" He tried to keep his usual cool.

"I quit this morning; raw fish makes me sick. Hey, don't you try to change the subject!"

The blond backed a little, "What's wrong with you?"

"I saw you at the park yesterday. Why were you spying on Dallas and Ally?"

I sighed. "It's not what you think. I was helping Dallas out with the date. He didn't know what to do… he's hopeless."

"Oh. I thought… Ok, I'm confused. Ally seems upset and doesn't want to talk with me; I thought it was about something that happened during the date-"

"-and you blame it on Austin," added Dez, still biting onto his sandwich. Trish shot him a disgusted look.

"Wait. Ally's upset? I thought the date went pretty well." Now, _I_ was confused.

"Apparently not. You need to talk to her."

"Yeah, I will. But not before having a chat with Mr. Awful-singer-terrible-hair-flipper here!" There he was, talking innocently with a cute brunette, like nothing's happened. But, surely, he'd done something wrong and if Ally was sad, it was all his fault.

A frown took the place of his bewildered expression.

"Excuse-me, Dallas, can I talk for a sec?"

"Sure. I'm sorry, be right back," he shot the girl a wink and she ran away excitedly, as if she had seen a celebrity. Well, maybe she hadn't heard him singing yet.

"What did happen with Ally yesterday? I thought the date was going well, then why Trish told me Ally's upset? Did you hurt her somehow?"

Dallas held his hand in front of him, calling a halt of his rebuke.

"Austin, calm down. I talked to Ally, everything's fine. We decided to stay friends."

"Friends? What? Why?" Austin didn't know whether to be glad or baffled.

"Well, the date went amazingly, also thanks to you and your tips but she doesn't seem to be into me. She likes me, but she isn't that convinced either. I think she has someone else in her mind, so we thought it was the best thing for both of us to stay friends." _Someone else? Oh, great. Another guy trying to steal his Ally_! This was all Austin could think about.

"Oh, and you're okay with that?"

He nodded. "Yes. Mostly because now, thanks to your tips, girls like me more! I'm about to ask on a date the girl I was talking before! Wish me good luck!"

"Good luck?"

Dallas gave him the thumbs-up and scampered away to get that brunette. Unbelievable.

* * *

Ally was glad the Sonic Boom was desert. She didn't feel like being sweet and polite to customers or give them a engaging smile. With her behavior, she totally messed up her possible-relationship with Dallas. She thought he was the guy she liked, but apparently her mind was planning something else for her. She groaned loudly to relieve the tension inside her.

She wished her mind would clear up already and tell her what she really wanted. _Who_ she really wanted.

The song, the 'coolest girl I know' line reminded her of her blond best friend. Everything was screaming 'Austin Moon'.

And why was his cute face stuck in her mind? Was it even possible she had _feelings_ for him?

Ally was thinking about him so much that she was now hearing his voice. But, then, a second "Ally!" rang out in the room and she realized it wasn't a figment of her imagination. He was there for real.

"I'm under the counter."

As soon as he reached her, he sat down on the floor and crawled next to her.

"Hey."

"Hey," she mimicked him.

"I- I had a little conversation with Dallas… he told me you decided to remain friends and you were okay with that. Then why you look so upset?"

"I don't know…" She refused to look at him into his eyes.

"Ally."

"I'm confused. The date went great, really, but I'm not convinced about me and Dallas. He's a good guy but I feel like something is missing."

"His artistic skills?"

Ally chuckled. "Yeah, he's pretty bad."

"Pretty bad? He definitely sucks."

Ally titled her head to the side. "How do you know?" Oops.

"Well, I-I… Ok, that's it. The idea of singing was mine. Dallas asked me for help cause he didn't know what to do on the date. So I told him what you like, taught him how to behave, what to do and I suggested him what to say through a bug." _It all fit into place now._

"Wow, you did?"

Just then, Austin realized he had admitted to Ally that all that cheesy stuff came from his mouth.

"Yeah," he sighed. The nervousness was killing him from the inside and his heart was beating faster… he had never got this nervous! Not even when he liked Cassidy and that time he made a total fool of himself.

"Ally, I need to tell you something. Please, don't laugh at me."

"I won't."

"Well, I kind of… developed feelings for you. And I wonder why I haven't figured that out before. I meant all the things I told Dallas to tell you. You're awesome, beautiful, talented. You're the only girl that understand me and, most of all, stand me. I got jealous when you accepted Dallas' invite but I gave him my help because I thought this date was important for you. I _really _wanted you to be happy, but not with him. With me."

Austin felt more relieved now that he told her how he really felt about her. It was like taking a heavy load off your chest.

Ally, on the other hand, couldn't believe her own ears. Did he really confess his feelings for her or was she imagining it? No. He definitely opened her heart to her.

"I'm- I don't know what to say."

He groaned, frustrated. "I ruined everything, our friendship, our partnership. I'm an idiot! I'm sorry, I should've stayed with my mouth shut and-" she stopped him mid-sentence with her tender lips. He was supposed to do it first, like a man would, but he didn't mind to be kissed by her either.

Sparks flew everywhere.

He put his arms around her waist, pulling her closer, while her hands moved up to his soft blond locks. They stayed like this for a minute, their lips moving in a perfect sync. But then, as their lugs were short of oxygen, they had to break away.

"Wow, Ally, I didn't know you were confident enough to kiss me first," he laughed, out of breathe.

"Well, I had the best teacher."

He smiled down at her. "So, you feel the same about me?"

"Yeah. You're the reason why I asked Dallas to be just friends. I couldn't stop thinking about you during the date… The song and his words recalled you to my mind."

He pecked her lips. "I know, I'm too irresistible."

She smacked his arm and rested her head on his shoulder, inhaling his scent.

"Ally?"

"Mmh?"

"What about kissing at the _liberry_?"

She slapped his arm again.

* * *

**Please, let me know what you think. Review :)**


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